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I do like his work ethic most of all. He plays the game very similar to Big Ben - he's agile, but, not to run, but, instead, to find an open WR.

Schedule stinks this year - wouldn't be surprised if it hurt his draft stock - Coach isn't a "win by 50" kind of guy... He's the "we're up by 3 scores, now run the clock" kind of guy. If you play school of the blind and don't win by 50, people will wonder. That almost cost him against u guys - coach, u were "ahead", but, ur not necessarily "better"... this team CAN come back...

That is a stupid point. I lived in rural Kentucky and heard some of the craziest stories in my lifetime regarding crime and senseless violence over meth, moonshine or a sister cousin.

As far as Chicago goes... the black community has been having countless stories, marches and protest over the violence in that city. I get tired of hearing people point out other senseless crimes when discussing the Trayvon case like it justifies or proves something. That's like a Patriot fan or an Aaron Hernendez defender pointing to other murders to cloud the discussion over his situation.

The GZ case is national news... it doesn't mean those other murders aren't important.

My family is from western WV, and I also lived in rural Ky. I know of the problems of poverty, violence and drug use within the Appalachian culture. I have always assumed that poverty and lack of educational opportunities were the key factor in crime rates. So, I looked up crime rates just now, did a little reading on the subject. What I see is a couple things, urban areas have higher crimes rates (which factor in population) but rural areas crime rates are increasing at a higher rate. I suspect there are other psychosocial factors at play for instance...ease of access to criminal activities. Meaning, when you have more people in a smaller area there is bound to be more conflict. Spreading people out with more land resources and then comparing crime rates is comparing apples to oranges. Making an effective comparison is impossible.

My family is from western WV, and I also lived in rural Ky. I know of the problems of poverty, violence and drug use within the Appalachian culture. I have always assumed that poverty and lack of educational opportunities were the key factor in crime rates. So, I looked up crime rates just now, did a little reading on the subject. What I see is a couple things, urban areas have higher crimes rates (which factor in population) but rural areas crime rates are increasing at a higher rate. I suspect there are other psychosocial factors at play for instance...ease of access to criminal activities. Meaning, when you have more people in a smaller area there is bound to be more conflict. Spreading people out with more land resources and then comparing crime rates is comparing apples to oranges. Making an effective comparison is impossible.

Well, forget comparing Chicago to the Appalachians and the Ozarks...I thought the overall point made in the article was pretty good. We focus on one case, but miss the bigger picture. As long as we fail to see the bigger picture, we can't expect to make much headway in dealing with the underlying problems.

Well, forget comparing Chicago to the Appalachians and the Ozarks...I thought the overall point made in the article was pretty good. We focus on one case, but miss the bigger picture. As long as we fail to see the bigger picture, we can't expect to make much headway in dealing with the underlying problems.

The "bigger picture" is that we have an epidemic of blacks (especially young black men) being murdered. But 94% of these murders are committed by other blacks.

If we're going to stem this tragic tide, we need to figure out the underlying causes. Will focusing solely on the Trayvon Martin case accomplish that?

Seems like an easy fix from reading this thread. Send them to Appalachia. They'll probably end up losing their teeth from the meth, Mountain Dew, and the lack of dentists, but they'll more likely stay alive.

The "bigger picture" is that we have an epidemic of blacks (especially young black men) being murdered. But 94% of these murders are committed by other blacks.

If we're going to stem this tragic tide, we need to figure out the underlying causes. Will focusing solely on the Trayvon Martin case accomplish that?

Dangit - i had bailed out of this part of the conversation, but, had to share one perspective/observation... these people (the 94%) usually know and have a problem with each other in some way. that doesn't make it right, but, there's a big difference in an incident that has take days/months/weeks/years to escalate versus something perceived as a random act with only charactersistics you were born with (skin color, neighborhood).

I would say the difference is more like comparing war versus terrorism...

(.......DeVille throws a turd on the floor in the middle of the room and runs out....)

"take pools. If more people have pools, there will be more drownings. In America, we have a lot of guns, so obviously, we'll have more shootings as a result"....

In NC, it seems like every year some Hispanic guy goes swimming in a lake with his work boots on and drowns. So if we get rid of the pools, people will just go drown in the lakes. Same with guns - get rid of the guns and people will find some other way to kill one another.

The root of the problem is the killers are angry (or have some other negative emotions they can't get a handle on). How do you turn everyone into happy and productive members in society? If you can do that, then no one will think they need a gun. And problem solved.

But it's an impossible problem. People like to think we can do things for others, but ultimately they make their choices. So the only logical response is for me personally to be even more cautious and make even better choice for myself. Fixing me is always the start of solving any problem.